


Will and Testament

by Nonsuch



Category: Jupiter Ascending (2015)
Genre: Abuse, Cruelty, Jupiter Ascending Fic Challenge, Seraphi Abrasax is a terrible parent, Slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-25
Updated: 2015-11-25
Packaged: 2018-05-03 09:54:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5286239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nonsuch/pseuds/Nonsuch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Famulus is mentioned twice in Seraphi Abrasax's will. The benefits of this are, suffice to say, obscure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Will and Testament

There were two provisions in the will of Her Majesty Seraphi Abrasax that named me. They were as follows:

_To my servant Famulus I bequeath my silver bracelet inlaid with rubies, diamonds and emeralds._

_To my daughter Kalique I bequeath my servant Famulus._

I was one of many thousands of servants installed at Her Majesty’s palace on Ayana, but only I and twelve others had been specifically named in her will. The bracelet had been a gift from her daughter. I was present when the will was read, and saw Lady Kalique – stood proud and rigid beside her brothers – frown when the bracelet was mentioned. When my own fate was announced 27 days further into the reading of the will, her eyes scanned the assembled servants, searching in vain for a face to match the name. ‘Famulus’ was meaningless to her.

I did not leave with Lady Kalique’s retinue at the conclusion of the reading. There was much left to do on Ayana, and it had been determined that I and numerous other trusted retainers would remain behind to oversee and effect the packaging and delivery of Her Majesty’s possessions. Almost every single significant piece – and there were many thousands of them on Ayana alone – had been assigned a specific fate. The golden clock in the hall outside Her Majesty’s bedchamber was to be sent to Lord Balem. The filigree curtains covering the windows went to Lady Kalique. The statue of some nameless, heavy-breasted love goddess was carefully packaged and delivered to Lord Titus.

I did not arrive at Lady Kalique’s alcazar on Cerise until a year after the final day of the will reading. I had not had time to contemplate my fate before strapping myself in to the cruiser. Suddenly without activity or industry to occupy my thoughts, I cast my mind back.

While marked out for special favour in Her Majesty’s will, I had felt little of it during her lifetime. I only joined her household 143 years prior to her death, appointed after a prior lady’s maid had been gifted to some favoured son of a rival house. I was well trained and immaculately designed, and never spoke unless I was spoken to. The times Her Majesty deigned to speak to me were rare – indeed, I can only recall three occasions where we exchanged more than the most perfunctory dialogue.

On the first, I could not help but see the bruises on her wrists as I helped her dress. Her son was visiting, so I knew their cause. She specifically requested long sleeves and her heaviest bracelets, and I went to fetch them without a word. When I returned, she was sobbing. I stood silently beside her as she cried, her sobs muffled by the hand pressed to her face. I watched her for a long moment before hesitantly setting a hand upon her shoulder. She tensed, her newly limp hand falling down to the bed. She looked back at me, her expression disconcertingly childlike, her own hand reaching for mine and squeezing it.

“Thank you,” she said. I helped her to dress. No trace of her former distress remained by the time I clipped a thick, snaking bracelet shut around her wrist.

Many years later, I was combing out her long, dark hair to prepare her for bed. I focused purely on the comb until Her Majesty spoke, at which point I raised my eyes to look ahead into the mirror. My mistress’s gaze was fixed upon her reflection, the flawlessness of her complexion magnified by the harsh light shining down from the spotlights above.

“What is your name?”

“Famulus, Your Majesty.”

“Where were you born?”

“I was not born, Your Majesty. I was created by Delah Splice Resources.”

“So you have no memory of your parents? A mother? A father?”

“No, Your Majesty. I have no parents.”

“And this does not trouble you?”

“No, Your Majesty.”

She turned her head back to look at me directly, causing me to still my hand for fear of tugging at her scalp with the comb. “It should.”

The final encounter between us of any note came several decades before she died. Her Majesty’s children had been visiting for a business conference, and I was helping her select the jewellery she was to wear on the occasion of their parting dinner. When others were present her manner of dress was always painstakingly constructed, the selection or omission of a particular attendee’s gift used to indicate favour or disfavour. On this particular evening, she announced that she desired to wear tributes from all of her children. I brought a tray forward with bracelets that Lady Kalique had brought Her Majesty over prior centuries, having previously brought her trays filled with bracelets gifted to her by her sons. Her Majesty gave the tray a cursory glance before looking away.

“You will choose.”

Although somewhat surprised by the irregularity of the order, I turned to the task without question or complaint. I had been crafted to possess quick fingers, quick eyes and a quick mind, and was confident in my tastes. My eyes flicked over every piece, all of them dazzling and shining, all of them undoubtedly more expensive than I had been. I plucked the silver bracelet with rubies, diamonds and emeralds after a few moments of contemplation, turning it briefly to observe how it caught the light before passing it to her for approval. Her Majesty surveyed it for a few moments before smiling. “Yes. This is perfect. Thank you, Famulus.” That was the first and last time she ever spoke my name in my presence.

That night, Her Majesty returned to her chamber naked and shivering. Her face was without any colour or expression, and I asked no questions as I helped her prepare for bed.

I toyed with the bracelet, which had remained around my wrist ever since the distribution of the minor goods detailed in the will, nervously as the cruiser landed at Lady Kalique’s alcazar on Cerise. It was dark when I disembarked with the other splices that had remained behind to oversee the disposal of Her Majesty’s effects, the way ahead lit by a series of lofty, floating lamps hanging far above our heads. I was met by maids of Lady Kalique’s at the bottom of the ramp; they explained that I – and I alone of all the new arrivals – was to have an audience with their mistress. I bowed my head and followed.

The alcazar on Cerise was quite unlike the palace on Ayana. While Her Majesty’s palace had been positioned amidst the clouds and formed of shimmering sheets of glass, Kalique’s alcazar was surrounded by water and built from stone. I could hear the movement of water – in rivers, waterfalls and fountains – with every step, the sound of incessant movement magnified by the marble halls. My whole body felt heavier than it ever had before, the bracelet suddenly chafing the skin of my wrist.

I was shown into an audience chamber so small that it felt enclosed despite the wide, open balcony waiting behind the empty throne. Lady Kalique stood at the balcony with her back to me, her silver-wrapped body glittering and shining in the light of the planet’s moons. She turned at the sound of my approaching footsteps, regarding me for a brief moment before turning to her guards.

“Leave us.” The guards – eight of them altogether, discreetly set against the walls as inanimate and unobtrusive as pot plants – filtered out, the silence in the room only disturbed by the sound of surging, unseen water.

She moved towards me with slow, careful steps, scanning me. I was familiar with such gazes, the looks of the Entitled almost surgical in their precision and purpose. I remained still as she set a hand upon my bare arms, running it down until her fingers became caught up by my bracelet.

“I gave this bracelet to Mother for her 90,000th birthday. I had it made by artisans on Earth, her favourite planet. I thought she would appreciate the gesture, but I only saw it on her wrist once.”

I said nothing, and Lady Kalique clearly neither expected nor desired me to speak. She continued to scrape her fingers over the jewels, unconscious of the stiffness of my body or the tightness of my breaths. “It was on her wrist at the last dinner we had as a family. She wore exquisite pieces of jewellery and rare fabrics given by all of us – her three sole surviving children. There was nothing unusual in that, of course, but what she did with them was _very_ strange indeed. Do you know what she did?”

I bowed my head. “No, my Lady.”

“She stripped them off one by one, looking into our eyes and telling us that we were disgusting. We – her own children – revolted her. She threw everything we had given her onto the ground. My brother attempted to rise to stop her, but she demanded that he sit and watch. He did. She stripped herself, item by item, and told us she was going to let her beautiful body decay and wrinkle and rot.” Lady Kalique paused and smiled to herself, perversely amused by the memory. “She was vain to the last, declaring her beauty even as she vowed to destroy it. She spat on all our gifts, all her accumulated splendour, before leaving us. Did you know that?”

“No, my Lady.”

“I don’t believe you – you’re not as stupid as you make yourself seem. Now, what did you do for my mother?”

“I was her lady’s maid.”

“Duties, girl. Be specific.”

“I helped her to dress. I brought her clothing to her, and gave assistance with dressing where it was required.”

“You must have done more than that. She remembered your name. She had children – dead children, but still – whose names she forgot. What did you do for her to make her remember your name?”

“I served her loyally, my Lady. I executed my duties faithfully. I was never conscious of any special favour.”

Kalique smiled, and it would be hard to conceive of an expression less befitting her questions. “Did she sleep with you?” her pause was too fleeting for me to answer. “No, that wouldn’t make a difference. Did you save her life? Keep her from poison? Stop an assassin?”

“No, my Lady. I merely conducted my duties.”

The smile persisted, all the stranger for its brilliance. “I don’t believe you. But still, what you say or do hardly matters.” She unclipped the bracelet from my wrist, and held it away from her in an outstretched hand as if it might develop fangs and bite. She regarded it crookedly, her expression unreadable. “Tell me – why do you think my mother gave you this? Perhaps more pertinently, why do you think my mother gave you to me?”

I could guess at the true reason, of course, but valued me life too much to say, “I can only guess that it was as a mark of her favour. I did not know Her Majesty’s mind, my Lady.”

The bracelet fell to the paved floor with a resounding clatter. “Of course you didn’t. No one did, not truly. That mind was the most singular, the most exquisite, mind conceivable. How old are you?”

“160, my Lady.”

She scoffed, extending a hand to stroke my cheek. “A child, then.” She paused a beat, her finger moving to hook inside the corner of my lips. “Open your mouth.” I parted my lips obediently, and felt her fingers run across my teeth, feeling for gaps or imperfections. They tasted of salt. When she was finished she drew her hand back, regarding it for a moment before her wiping her fingers dry on my dress. “Now strip.”

I took only a moment to steady myself before bending, gripping the hem of my dress and pulling it up over my head. Lady Kalique watched me, but her gaze held only the most cursory interest. I imagined that she had seen many bodies, mine one of endless, anonymous thousands.

“Turn,” she ordered, and I revolved on the spot at the command, coming to a stop when I faced her again. “So, it’s only the ears, then? No pert little tail?”

“No, my Lady. I am simply as you find me. I am ready to serve.”

She laughed softly, shaking her head as if amused by some private joke. “You will never serve me. No. Bad memories. I’m sure you understand.”

I paled and swallowed carefully. I had no desire to die. My time seemed so fleeting, so insignificant, compared to the lifespans of my owners. I deserved more. I was entitled to more.

“Oh, don’t look so frightened. Not yet.” Lady Kalique remarked, turning and drifting over to a floating table to pour herself a flute of wine, “I’m not wasteful. I’m certainly not going to kill you myself. You’re much too pretty, much too expensive, for that. No, I intend to make a gift of you.” She waited a few moments before turning to me, her eyes wide and surprised. “Have you no questions? You’re not an imbecile. I know you want to know. Ask me.”

“Who will I be given to, my Lady?”

“Well, it depends on which brother visits me first. If Balem has the courtesy to pay me a visit, you will become his. He would accept you for the sake of diplomacy, but he’d probably simply dispose of you or work you to your death in one of his ghastly abattoirs. Balem’s desires are, shall we say, singular. Even with all your beauty, you would hold no interest for him. If Titus comes first, on the other hand, I will give you to him as a mark of my appreciation. He’ll certainly have uses for you – his sexual proclivities extend beyond our mother, you understand. I suppose which fate you would prefer depends on the kind of death you find more appealing – rotting in the bowels of a refinery with soot on your hands, or being fucked until your body is gross and misshapen. Neither of my brothers are as generous with their RegeneX stores as Mother, I’m afraid. It’s cheaper to replace the staff than it is to keep them alive.”

She watched me intently, clearly anticipating some flash of fear.

I gave her nothing, keeping my eyes as dead as hers.

Her mouth twisted into a snarl, her hand moving swiftly to strike my face. The slap, the first I had ever been dealt, stung. Unbidden, tears rose up into my eyes.

Finally satisfied to have reaped my misery, she turned away from me and glided across the room to her balcony, looking out across the lush, shadowed beauty of her holding. I held a hand hard against my throbbing cheek, and had to stifle a whimper of pain. My heart gave a jolt when she spoke again, her voice newly tranquil. “You’ll be found when you’re needed. Until then, I want to forget that you exist. Leave me.”

I retreated from the room slowly, my eyes fixed on the figure of Lady Kalique, until the balcony vanished from view. The moment the glint of her silvery train was gone, I turned and ran. I ran even as my legs ached with a ferocity that matched my burning cheek, putting layer after layer of stone between myself and my new mistress.

I stopped only when I was out of breath, helpless but to collapse to my knees and curse Seraphi Abrasax for her cruelty.

**Author's Note:**

> I sensed that Kalique has a very, very nasty side, and wanted to try and explore that here through the eyes of Famulus. I also find the potential contents of Seraphi's will fascinating, since one can only assume that it would be an exceptionally long document given her lifespan. My grandparents accumulated endless possessions over the course of 90 years, so the mind boggles to think how much clutter would build up over 91,000 years. I may or may not continue this, but please rest assured that Kalique's predictions of her brother's conduct are founded on malice and cruelty as much as they are based on awareness of his behaviour and habits. 
> 
> This was written for the JA Fic Challenge Odd Couples. 
> 
> Do leave your thoughts in the comments! I'd love to know what people make of this, and am open to dialogue.


End file.
